Starlight, A Modern Fairytale
by LVieK
Summary: Jade Dubois left her home and her best friends in La Push during one of the darkest times of her life, now that she came back, how long will the peace last when she's standing in the middle of the storm? Soon, she'll have to choose between love and duty.
1. Prologue

**Starlight, A Modern Fairytale**

**Prologue**

The night before I arrived, I dreamt of men dressed with the fur of wolfs and of beings with sparkly skin, but I never thought of it as an omen.

When I came back to La Push, after living four years in France, I only thought of living in peace with my friends, with all the people I had grown up with, completely ignorant of the changes that were coming our way.

My goals for life were graduating from some fancy college with a degree in medicine, to work somewhere helping people in need, being able to travel the world, and eventually getting married. I hate to admit but...

_I wanted a fairytale kind of life._

I never expected getting caught up in a mythological whirlwind; I never planned on being imprinted by a werewolf and, much less that my dream life would transform into a suspense novel.

The legends I was raised with and the science taught to me in school clashed in my mind… It's just that nobody told me that monsters really exist, neither did they warn me of how beautiful can they be…

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><p><strong>AN: This is a translation of one of my stories that goes by the same name. My main language is Spanish, so I'm taking this as an exercise of my english vocabulary.**

**I hope everything is ok, if you catch any mistake, please let me know, and thank you so much for reading :D**


	2. Our last summer

****A/N: I have rewritten the prologue, check it out if you haven't and tell me what you think about it! Thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter :D****

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><p><strong>Chapter I<strong>

**Our last summer**

I was absorbed, lost in the movement of the waves, contemplating the way the sun bathed them with bright flashes, after all a day with a good amount of sun was weird in La Push, even during the summer. I didn't realize someone was speaking to me; it was just me and the nature, until, with a dry thump, my best friend decided that the local flora and I should have a closer relationship.

"Quil!" I screamed while I followed the boy with the impish grin along the seashore with my hand tightly gripping the kelp he had just thrown to my face. "I have something that belongs to you!."

"If you want me to eat it, you'll need to catch me first!" He said, jumping into the water and swimming far from where I was, towards a boy with long and shiny black hair, Jacob, whose big smile appeared to grow even wider when he saw our childish behavior.

My feet touched the water but I backed away from it immediately, like it was burning me. It was silly, I love the beach but hate the water, I had always been like that.

"It's not fair!" I screamed at him with a pout "Be a man and let me hit you."

"Keep dreaming" He answered, making faces at me "If you were less of a chicken…"

Quil was my best friend during all my childhood, and, after all this years, he was still a jerk sometimes. I thrown the kelp back at him but because of lack of dexterity, it landed on Jake's head, who for the first time in the whole day, let his smirk falter.

"Hey! Don't involve me in your childish wars" he reacted, throwing the kelp back at Quil and starting his own silly fight with him, I just could make out kelps flying, splashes of water and laughter; they were just a couple of big babies.

"Jade" called a third voice; I turned around to find a tall and skinny boy drying his shoulder length hair with a towel "Shall we go get those sodas?"

I smiled at Embry, my other best friend and, for me, the sanest of all. We started walking along the seashore to the coffee shop that was near by, when Quil came splashing out of the water with the largest kelp I had ever seen hanging from his head.

"What do you guys say, do I look just like Jake or what?" he asked, running his hands through the kelp like he was styling his hair. "Hey, where are you two going?"

Embry passed his stare quickly from Quil to me with a mischievous grin. The next thing I knew was that Embry was now carrying me over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes while running away from Quil, who was following behind him.

Ok, maybe Embry wasn't _that_ sane either.

"Hey! Give her back to me!" said Quil in a joking tone at the same time as he ran after us.

"No, it's my turn to have her!" answered Embry in the same attitude without stopping. I hadn't realized how strong these guys were, they may be skinny but their stamina was probably off the charts.

"If you break her, you're gonna have to deal with me!" said Quil with a smile, as he stopped running and fell behind.

"I'm not a thing!" I screamed at both of them, faking to be offended; since we were little, they were always very protective of me, so I partly knew it was just a game.

"No, you are not" whispered Embry, in the process of putting me back to the ground as softly as he could "You're a princess" he finished with a very soft voice, a smile on his lips and a pat on the top of my head.

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><p>We walk back all together to our houses, being too young to drive anything yet. They, as always, were annoying each other and laughing; and me, on the other hand, I was thinking about other stuff, watching the pictures we took that day on the screen of my camera.<p>

"Jade, are you ready to be the weirdo of the school tomorrow?" asked Quil, messing my long dark brown hair with his hand.

"With you three, freaks, sitting right next to me, I don't think people will notice me much" I answered, imitating him.

"It will be great, just like the old times" finished Jake, leaving all of us with our hopes high. We were going to make this year the best one up to this point.

Two months had already passed since I moved back to La Push to live with my mother again, and life had never been sweeter.

_I never thought the truth that my words held, neither did I imagined how quickly things would steer out of my control._

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><p><strong>AN: Any mistake you see, please let me know. Wow, it's hard to translate a story, I hope with time things will be easier :D**

**I would appreciate some reviews so I can know what you think and what things I should improve.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Contact

****A/N: I have rewritten the prologue, check it out if you haven't and tell me what you think about it! Thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter :D****

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><p><strong>Chapter II<strong>

**Contact**

"Kim, I think I have a crush on somebody" the words rolled out of my mouth while I slid into my chair in the front of the classroom, with my gaze lost in the infinity.

The girl with the tan skin that was sitting on the desk right next to mine just laughed.

"Gee, I didn't think you were so easy, Jay" she shook her head, making her long black hair move side to side. One of the best things of starting school again was reuniting with friends from my childhood, like Kim, who was now my partner in every school related project and my escape from the manly–madness that surrounded me constantly.

"You don't get it, if only you had seen him…" I sighed, thinking about his gorgeous golden eyes "I think I'll go to work everyday with joy. You know what? If he wants, I'll go every single day of the week, all day long; for him, I'll break the law"

I had applied for a work in Fork's hospital, it's was considerably close to La Push, anyway, if I was going to be a good doctor, I had to start right now, even if it was just a job as a nurse's assistant. The fact that my boss turned out to be a major hottie was just the icing of the cake.

"Hot for the boss?" said Kim laughing, boy, she may look really innocent and shy but she certainly could be as straight forward as she wanted to "Besides, how old is he? He's like forty or something, right?"

"Thirty-three" I answered, slightly biting my lower lip. "I think Dr. Cullen might be the most perfect man on the face of the earth, I couldn't wait to learn from him.

"Doctor Cullen?" The hate in voice of the boy scared me, almost making me jump out of my chair. It was Jared, Kim's boyfriend, and one of the more muscular guys I had ever seen in my life. "If I were you, I would stay far away from his family and him, they are not good people" He shot a hard look at Kim, who stopped laughing and sat correctly on her chair. But his attitude changed drastically in a second, and now he was looking at her with a look so full of love it almost boarded on adoration, only the though of a love so consuming made me feel sick of my stomach.

I never comprehended what a girl as sweet as Kim was doing with a bipolar punk like Jared. Come on, the guy was on a 'pack' with two other guys of the reservation and they spent the whole day running around the woods without shirts, they were just the kind of boys you would take home to meet your parents. Yeah, maybe during dinner he could rub butter on his shiny pectorals, _so classy._

"It's not what it looks like" Kim would always said, and then I would snort. "You don't get it, there so much more of him you don't see".

"With the amount of clothing he is wearing, I think I have seen enough of him" used to be my answer.

But my childish crush didn't last long, doctor Cullen left Forks almost without notice, and according to the word on the streets, he had taken all of his family with him, leaving almost zero chances of him coming back. Many bonfires were lit up that night; apparently the perfect family from Forks was hated by almost all of the people in La Push, _who would have guessed it._

That same day, a girl of that same town got lost in the woods, the commotion was so big that the group of punks of the reservation were enlisted to join the search effort, among them Kim's boyfriend and, the guy who found her, Sam Uley, a senior of the institute, leader of the 'Steroids pack' and a well-known troglodyte.

"Seriously, shirts aren't that expensive" said Quil, rolling his eyes while we watched from my locker the huge form of Sam crossing the hallway, it was the first time I had ever seen him with a shirt on, I supposed it was because we were on the school grounds; it was a normal, faded beige t-shirt, that seemed to had been through some tough times because it was see-through on some parts.

Like he could hear us, he turned around and stared right into Quil's eyes with a dominant glare. Quil just moved his gaze toward my locker like it was the most interesting object of the whole creation but I could tell he was shaking a bit. I can't deny my reaction was the same as his, even though my locker was almost empty, all I had in it were some school books, a picture of Quil, Jake, Embry and me drinking milkshakes this summer and a small box of candies that I offered to Quil, who was still pretty pale due to the encounter.

His image was stuck on my mind for some time after he disappeared, Sam's look, even with all the authority going on, it seemed void and his face was a bit drawn, like the one of a person who suffers of abstinence when trying to quit smoking after many years. I breathed out, trying to free myself from those thoughts.

"Well, at least Sam is not wearing the same shirts he did when he was six years old" I said, trying to light up the mood, taking my biology book with my left arm and pinching the fabric of his white shirt with my right hand, lately his clothes were running a bit small on him, maybe I should get him some decent shirts for Christmas.

"Hey, these beautiful muscles," he pointed to his body with a smile full of confidence "were made to be shown. The ladies love it." He put, what I guess was his sexiest face and wink at me.

"Oh please" I said with a smile on my lips, closing my locker. We started walking through the hallway towards our classroom.

"So, why weren't you at the celebration the other day?" started the impish boy.

"There was actually something to celebrate?" I just couldn't figure out how losing a great doctor was something worth celebrating.

"Of course, those beings left Forks, now this is a safer place for all" he answered, like it was the most obvious thing on the world.

"Beings?" I leaned over and took a cup of water from the water dispenser.

"The Cullen family, you know, 'the cold ones'" Quil finished with a slightly lower voice, getting close to me as he said it. It was a term I haven't heard in years, 'the cold ones' were the characters of a Quileute legend about the mortal enemies of our ancestors. My grandma used to narrate it for me in some occasions when I was child, just like every other elder of the reservation would do with their own grandchildren, but for me, she was the best, the way she spoke embedded you into the story. Well, she was a Tribal Council member after all, that's what they do, teaching stories to the younger kids.

"Really, you still believe in that?" My annoyance was clear in my tone of voice, I snorted at this; sometimes, the people of this place could be so naïve. Quil raised an eyebrow at me but I guess he just let the topic go.

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><p>That night, I found myself again walking through the woods. An enormous being watching me from the dark, I could feel it; I knew it was there, the dry leafs were crushing under his weight.<p>

The strong wind messing my hair and chilling me to my bones; the sound it made going through the trees was the only noise in the whole place, the animals seemed to have run away, frightened by whoever -or whatever- was hiding in the shadows. In all that clearing, it was just my watcher and me.

My lips suddenly moved, pronouncing words I couldn't hear, the air just wasn't coming out of my lungs. I didn't know what I said but I regretted it in that same moment, when a wolf, as big as a horse and as black as the coal, came out of the bushes and rip apart the right side of my face with a hit of his paw.

A women's scream broke through the perpetual silence of the forest but the voice that seemed to come out of my throat wasn't mine.

It was then when I woke up on my bed, shaking and bathed on cold sweat; whatever that was, it felt too real, more than ever, I basically felt my skin slashed and my blood pouring. I stumbled, still tangled on my blanket until I reached the vanity that my mom had put on my room but when I saw my face, illuminated gently by the moonlight, it was intact.

_There's nothing on it_, I thought, falling back onto the mattress, my breath still uneven.

Indeed, there was nothing on it, but as I lie back again and try to doze off, I could still feel it.

All of it: the rage, the pain, the regret and those paws.

It kept burning on my cheek, tearing my flesh apart.

I turned around for the last time to see the clock on my night table; it was two in the morning and, in the distance, a regretful howl could be heard.

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><p><strong>AN: Finally, I got this up! It took me sometime to finally write this, mainly because I needed to think about the order of the events in La Push. SMeyer gave some vague details on the happenings of La Push, she didn't even gave us Jacob's birthday date on the books! So I thought maybe I had just forgotten his and everybody else birthdays! But I got my things together now :D**

**Thanks to_ ang-vamp_ for her review, it made my day and also it made me realize that every book I own in english have quotation marks in the dialogs, while the spanish ones have dashes!**

**I'm trying to throw some dark stuff into the story and develop the friendship and romance at a normal pace but also keep true to reality (Which is hard when you live far away from everything you are writing about! and also you are writing about horse-sized- bear-looking-wolf-things for crying out loud!)**

**So, yeah, expect some angsty moments, they are teens after all! Thank you for reading :D if I got any mistake, I would be really glad if you point it out so I can take care of it.**


	4. Remember

**A/N: I have rewritten the prologue, check it out if you haven't and tell me what you think about it! Thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter III<strong>

**Remember**

Maybe I was getting myself into more stuff than what I should, my Schedule was packed, but I never liked having too much free time in my hands, it could put some weird ideas in your mind, like they say 'If you run hard enough, your monsters will take longer to catch you'.

I was working three days a week in Fork's Hospital, I had joined the tutor's program of the institute and now I was giving mathematics classes every Friday to a boy, but that didn't bother me at all, he was a sweetheart and reminded me of Jacob.

And now, I had let Kim drag me to dance on the Quileute celebrations of the next months.

Well, maybe she didn't have to drag me literally.

"I told you you're easy" she asserted, showing me her tongue.

I responded her with the same gesture. Ok, maybe she only asked twice but you only get up that early a Saturday for your best friends, and right now, my clothes were on the same mood line as I was, black baggy pants, a white undershirt with a grey shirt on top that was a couple sizes too big for me, black converse and a black jacket with my hair resting on a messy bun. Kim, on the other hand, was looking really pretty, with a tight-fitting outfit, she even had make-up on, _yeah, even I saw were this was going._

"You look amazing" said a manly voice behind me, no wonder Kim had asked me to stop here, a couple blocks away from the practice studio of the school. Her eyes shined and a schoolgirl giggle sprout from her lips as Jared came over to greet her with a kiss.

_Yikes._

I turned around to find the only thing that could make my day better, a tall and muscular figure, even more so than Jared who I thought was the biggest guy until Lahote came back, a month and a half after the beginning of classes with the contexture of a truck.

"Well, what do we have here?" sounded the voice of none other than Paul Lahote, the third and final member of the 'Steroid's brigade'. "How is the Rez doing for you, Pepe Le Pew?"

I just stared at him in disbelief.

"It's that suppose to be a xenophobic comment?" I uttered.

"Xeno-what?" His confused look was enough for me, I sighed, touching my forehead with the palm of my hand. I turned around to call Kim; we needed to put as much earth as we could between me and Lahote, _now_.

But I realized my best friend had walked away with her 'teddy bear', _perfect_. I exhaled noisily, and felt something been pull out of my purse; apparently, the eagle feather fan I was taking to the rehearsal picked up the attention of my unwanted companion.

"Give me that, now, Lahote" was the first thing that came out of my mouth; I didn't have time to be all sugary when it came to protect my familiar inheritance.

"And what if I don't, short-stack?" he answered, holding it up on the air with his left hand. In those moments, I hated being small, I jumped my highest but still couldn't grasp it. He just laughed at me.

"You are a horrible human being; didn't you mother teach you some manners, mutt?" I laid my right hand on his chest and gave him a slight shove; it was a minimum touch and still I realized he was ridiculously hot. "You are burning on fever…" Was the only thing I could utter, with some concern on my voice, I knew running around like that wasn't healthy. I looked at his face, which I hate to admit is quite handsome, it was contorting with rage.

"What's wrong with you? Are you going to hit me? Are you really going to hit a girl?" but that only made his body start shaking fiercely.

I backed up a couple steps, a muffled sound made me realized he had drop the fan but all I could see were his eyes, filled with the same rage and pain as those of the wolf I had encounter a dark night on my dreams a couple weeks before, and just like that time, I was starting to regret what I had said.

Everything happened so fast, Sam Uley, with his face even more wrecked that the last time I had seen him, was standing there, taking Paul by his neck and shooting him a authority-filled glance, whispering words I couldn't make out, just one "Remember…".

Jared had stepped between them and me; with a shove so strong that it made me tripped a couple of steps before regaining my balance. And then, there was Kim, taking me by my hand and begging me to move.

This time, she was literally dragging me to the rehearsal. It took me a couple of seconds to snap off of my stupor, that guy was about to rip my head off and all I said to Kim was "You should take your boyfriend to the hospital, he may be sick too".

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><p>"What?" Quil's expression showed a great amount of surprise, and maybe some indignation on it; Embry's showed pure concern. We had decided to meet at Wallace's place to catch something to eat at two. I had explained to them what happened, and the reaction was basically what I expected.<p>

Quil started to talk really loud, showing his anger, and telling something about leaving Paul ugly for pictures if he ever touched me; Embry, on the other hand, told me to stay far away from them and stop messing with Paul.

_Like that was going to happen…_

"Damn, Quil, I could hear you from outside!" voiced Jake, finally arriving at our little meeting, I couldn't get mad at him, I knew that sweet smile will never let me. He sat down next to me, smelling like car's grease.

"Guess what? I think I'll have it ready for my birthday" he said happily, the spirits of this guy were always up. "Soon, we'll have four wheels under us and a piece of plastic in my pocket that will let us go wherever we want".

Jake's birthday was a little more than a month and a half away. He would be the first of us to get his license and the only one with a vehicle, if you don't count Embry's motorcycle, or how the guys called it, 'The Shotgun', a thunderous old crock, that after one use needed to be repaired all over again.

"Cool! We'll have a car so soon" celebrated Quil, and then he turned over to look at Embry, who was next to him, and said "But not you, Em, you can keep your piece of trash".

"Perfect" responded the long-haired boy with mocking on his voice, giving Quil a strong pat on his back. "You know who's going to help you with the physic's project, right?"

"Em! My best friend!" Quil changed in just one second and started to hug Embry, who only smiled and rolled his eyes.

"And I'm calling shotgun" demanded Embry.

"What ever you want, Em, what ever you want"

"Hey, I call shotgun, or are you going to deny that Jake would look better driving with a pretty girl right next to him?" I asked in a flirtatious tone.

"Yeah, you are right, but we'll need to search for one because I don't see any pretty girl around here" was Embry's quick answer.

"Burned!" followed Quil and Jake, laughing really loud.

My mouth fell open with surprise and laughter at the same time; I would have expected that from Quil, maybe even from Jake, but never from Embry. While the other two laughed, he only smiled and winked at me; I turned my face away from him but couldn't avoid smiling.

We kept shooting glances at each other, beaming everytime we catch the other looking.

_Boy, was he getting cuter each day._

In the end, we ate, laughed and talked; seeing them made me forget all about that morning. Being with my best friends made me happy, everything with them was problem-free. I took in every detail of those moments, wanting to keep them in my memories as they were right now, because like they say 'Nothing lasts forever'.

And something in my heart told me that soon, everything would be different.

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><p><strong>AN: Finally made a translation for this one! **

**Well, I have been skipping months around here, this chapter is set in late November, the first one was in September and the second in October. Just to make that clear. I don't want to drag this stage too long anyway. _We need to get the wolf out of the box soon._**

**I have been listening to a song called _Nothing Lasts Forever_, I think it kind of captures the mood of the next chapters and it inspired part of this one, as you can see. It was supposed to be the title of this one but I decided to go with _Remember_, as Sam is telling Paul to remember about what happened with Emily.**

**Thanks for reading and a have a nice week :D**


	5. Frozen

**Chapter IV**

**Frozen**

"Jaadee? Where is my hot chocolate?" asked Quil in a childish tone while he entered my house with a medium size box in his arms, he dropped it on the floor and then, he lay down on the couch of the living room.

"Quil! You have only taken down two small boxes, finish your work and I will give you your sweets" I responded, opening one of the boxes and checking its contents. It was all Christmas decoration; mom had asked me to take all of them out of the garage so we could put the house in tone with the season.

"So, you already started moaning?" mocked Embry, coming into the house with a really big box with the help of Jake.

"You see? Not even Jake is complaining and he is Jake" I said while I signaled the boys where they could put it down.

"Hey!" protested Jake with a slight offended look.

"No offence meant, but, come on, Jake, you know" I looked at him with my cutest face. He just raised his shoulders and lowered his face, like he was acknowledging the fact, Embry smiled widely. Ever since we were little, Jacob had always been the softest of the group, like that time we went to get our flu shots, when we were eight, and he was the only one to walk out crying.

Quil finally stood up, only to come back a couple minutes later with another box looking really excited.

"Jade, look at this box I found" he moved the box closer to me, but I was too distracted checking the contents of the others, making sure they were in a good state.

"Quil, I already told you, if it doesn't said Christmas or tribal stuff, you can't touch them"

"But it has your name on it"

That finally captured my attention; the box had a considerable size and my name written in blue marker. I basically ripped it off of Quil's hands, put it on the floor and chopped the sealing tape with a scissor, while the boys got closer to see what was in it. It smelt like old things and humidity when I opened it but I was sure there was something interesting in it, I just hoped it wasn't something too embarrassing.

"Wow, it's that what I think it is?" exclaimed Quil, taking out a transparent plastic bag that was on top of the contents, inside was a rectangular black box. "It's your Nintendo 64!" he celebrated, like he had found gold, quickly he shoved his hands in the box again and took out two other plastic bags, one with all the games I ever owned and the other with two controls.

"We have to try this, now" I heard Jake said while they were installing it on the television of the living room, trying to revive the old toy. For our sake, I wished it would work just fine.

"I'm going to close the garage" spoke Embry. With the whole deal of the box, I had forgotten that I basically left my house open to the public. He smiled sweetly at me and I couldn't help but to respond with a smile of my own before getting back to the treasure that was in front of me.

I heard Quil tell Jake all the ways he was going to destroy him in Mario Kart, so I supposed the old thing had worked.

I kept looking around in the box. There were old clothes of mine in it, some books, and an old rag I recognized as my baby blanket, I couldn't believe mom had kept all this things; she even kept some posters that were on my walls. Seen all of that, it made my heart feel warm.

The front door locked and I heard steps coming towards me, and soon, Embry was sitting right next to me, watching calmly.

"If you want, you can play with the guys, its okay" I said in a soft voice, I wasn't expecting him to be interested in any of these things.

"No, I rather be here" He answered in the same tone, I turned my face to look at him and his sweet smile for a second.

I was practically done with the box and was about to close it when Embry interfered, he shoved his hand into the box and pulled out a small object. He raised his hand, letting it hang between us; it was a silver necklace with a silver ring as its pendant. When I took in the details, I finally realized what it was.

Small wolfs carved into it, in the fashion of those that represented the traditional Quileute style, merged with arabesques and swirls.

It was my grandma's ring, the same one she had given to me when I was six years old. _How could I forget about it?_

"Are you going to put it on?" asked Embry looking at my eyes, I just nodded and pulled my hair into a side-ponytail with one hand. He opened the clasp and got close to me, putting it around my neck. He fought for a while trying to lock it correctly, but that didn't bother me at all; he was so close I could smell his scent and there was something soothing about it. Finally, he secured it. "Done"

He kept staring at it for a couple seconds, "This is my favorite part of the design" he uttered, pointing one of the wolf drawings.

Lastly, he gazed up at me and our eyes met directly, there was something in Embry that was changing, I could see it. His body was changing too, his muscles were growing, he even mentioned that of all of his jackets, the one he was wearing was the only that fitted him comfortably.

Probably, he was transforming into a man.

"Hey, are you two going to come and play or are you going to stay there talking like old hags?" Quil's voice broke through the magic of the moment; Embry's eyes widen in an instant, maybe he realized for the first time how close we were in that moment, and he got up really quickly, mumbling an apology.

_That kid couldn't have worst timing._

"Who called to get his ass kicked?" was the phrase that Embry said when he got next to them, sounding full of energy and ready to play. It seemed like that moment had never happened.

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><p>After spending the rest of the afternoon playing, I finally managed to kick the guys out of my house, even Quil, who asked to stay the night. I cleaned the whole living room and set up the Christmas tree, it was plastic, due to the fact that mom didn't like the idea of chopping a beautiful tree to see it wither and die inside her house in less than a month.<p>

I didn't want to think about Em, so I put some music to keep my mind somewhere else. Eventually, I started to dance in the remaining free space of the room; there was something about dancing that made me feel like nothing else did, it was vital for me.

Since I was little, I did tribal dances and practiced ballet in a small studio, nothing serious, but when I moved to France, tribal dancing was out of the question so I got my aunt to sign me up in a Ballet academy and that was a terrible mistake. Soon, I found myself making excuses to skip meals; I wanted to be like the other girls with their bodies like gazelles, but my own biology had other plans for me and my classmates didn't hesitate to remind me of that.

They were terrible to me, and I remember the six months I spent in that academy to be dreadful. The students, and even the teachers, that were insufferably demanding, reminded me that I would never dance in the front row, that I would never be the lead ballerina, simply because no boy would be strong enough to lift me up the floor if I kept growing like that, and that isn't precisely the kind of things you say to an eleven year old girl. Their words planted a seed in me, a virus that followed me even after I left that place behind, and that even now I had to fight to keep it repressed.

But something marvelous came out of that, a friendship that changed my life and without it, I would probably have stayed in France, suffering and resigned to never dance again in my life. But that didn't happen; I met the girl that taught me how to defend myself, to raise my voice and to never back down, I met Madeleine Lefebvre, and she taught me that the world could throw as much garbage as it wanted to you but you had the power to choose how you would face it.

And I decided I wouldn't stop dancing, but I would change the place I did it and I started dancing modern dance under the teachings of a very laid back young woman, Cassandra 'Cass' Lars. All that mattered to her was that we transmitted our feelings through our movements, all we needed was to connect with the song, and that was what I did, I expressed everything that was in me, everything I could never get out with words. I think I danced every kind of dance style in there, but I stayed with the two that captivated and filled me the most, modern dance and hip hop, even thought the seemed to clash. I don't know, they made me feel vulnerable and strong at the same time.

So there I was, dancing in the middle of the living room, and while the music played I felt free, like I was invincible and every leap I took was like flying, even if it only lasted a couple seconds.

But my internal monologue ended when I heard clapping coming from the living room's door; a woman with tanned skin was standing there, she seemed to be on her late thirties, with her straight dark hair falling on her shoulders, over her formal white shirt. Her hands were clasped together, while she looked at me with a beautiful smile and a warm glow on her eyes. I beamed at her, getting close to where she was so I could welcome my mother with a hug.

* * *

><p>"Mom, all these things belonged to my grandma?" I asked, holding various traditional ornaments. We had finished putting the Christmas decoration a couple minutes ago and we were sitting on the floor, digging through the other boxes.<p>

"Yes, just like the fan you borrowed the other day, this are family inheritance" she said, taking a basketry hat made of woven spruce root and putting it on my head, an eagle feather, that dangled from the top of it, fell on my nose and made me sneeze. Mom laughed, she pushed it a bit to the right, putting it in its right place. "You will look so adorable with this when the Whale Welcome event is held this April."

Since I started practicing tribal dance again, I had been able to get close to mom once more, she was part of the committee that organized all of the events in La Push, which kept her very busy when a celebration was coming up. But it also gave me a chance to help her and a topic to talk to her about, for which I was extremely grateful.

"Your grandma was a very special person, Jade. She loved the tribe above all, for her every Quileute was her brother, but she also loved her family, especially you" Her comment caught me off guard and, when I looked at her eyes, I saw sadness in them. "And I can see why, in some way you are a lot like her, you dance with the same fire that she had".

And at that moment, the silence finally fell between us.

"But I'm not crazy like she was, right?" I uttered shyly, trying to break the ice. Mom started laughing.

"Not even close, darling" her eyes brighten up again and her contagious laugh made me smile again; she had always thought that my grandmother had some loose screws. Although I had found her fascinating as a child, I could understand my mother's point of view now and why she didn't want me to spend that much time with her. She put some silly ideas in my mind, the same that were still on the minds of some of my friends.

My wristwatch made a 'bip' noise "Dear Lord, what time is it?" she took her cell phone and checked the hour. "It's too late, tomorrow you have classes, I got work. Hop, hop, to bed now".

"But mom" I said, letting the last syllable hanging longer than it should, almost like a small child, that's how she made me act and feel.

"No 'buts', Jade Tanis, it's time you go to bed" her voice full of maternal authority.

"Alright, alright. But don't call me like that again" I grumbled, at the same time as I stood up and started walking towards the stairs.

"No way, missy, that name it's also part of your family heritage, so you better get used to it again"

"Yeah, that was the name of the woman who named you 'Summer', even thought you were born in the middle of the winter" I teased her a bit just as I got to the top of the staircase, I knew she hated her name too.

She looked at me with slight irritation but, subsequently, she sighed and, with another bright smile, wished me good night.

* * *

><p>That night, I dreamt again, this time I was with Embry and we were running through the forest, escaping desperately from something.<p>

We ran hand in hand, not willing to ever let each other go, but at some point, I felt him slip away and when I turned around he was gone, I had lost him in the shadows.

I was stranded there alone in the woods, while the pure white snow descended on me and I screamed his name at the top of my lungs.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This chapter was supposed to contain so much more but I think I'll leave it here. Even with that, this is the longest chapter I have written so far!.**

**I need to thank _ang-vamp_ once again, really, you don't know how much I appreciate your reviews. Thank you for following me and taking time to write your great reviews, you actually gave me some ideas there! And yes, that was what Jade dreamt about but she doesn't know it, I actually doubt she knows who Emily is. I'm happy someone got that, hahahaha. I like to keep close to the cannon story and reality, but I'm going to take your advice, actually I think I finally found my pace :D**

**Thanks to all the people who have favorited my story, and thanks to those who read it even if they don't leave reviews, just knowing that you are out there makes me want to write a better story.**

**I thought the translation process was going to become easier with time, it's actually getting harder xD but I'm going to keep doing it :D I don't know about the mistakes I made in this chapter but I would be grateful if you point out the ones you find.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter!**


	6. Closer

**Chapter V**

**Closer**

The trees passed by quickly by the sides of the car as we took the only way from Forks to La Push. I breathed deeply, taking in the smell of the car, while I sunk deeper into the passenger seat.

"Don't you get nervous living surrounded by so many trees?" asked a female voice from the driver's seat.

"Ah? No, not actually" I answered, really tired from the Christmas's shopping of the day, I was just thankful I had found decent stores in Port Angeles. "In fact, it feels really good after living surrounded by buildings."

"Anyway, you should be careful. With all this reports about bear attacks, I don't think it would be prudent to wander too much in them"

I think she was the sixth adult to tell me that this week. Apparently, everyone wanted to play the role of 'Mother' now. That was my town; I couldn't understand why I should be afraid.

Nevertheless, I obliged to nod; after all she was the new doctor that replaced Doctor Cullen after his abrupt escape.

"Here" I said, pointing to my house. I was a modest house made out of wood, like all the other ones around. The women very skillfully pulled over and, with all my strength, I got out of the car.

I didn't know anything about cars but that was a dreamy one.

"Thank you for the favor, Doctor Agatha" she nodded, looking at me with her deep, penetrating black eyes. She looked really severe but today she took two nurses and me shopping, so I guess you can judge a book by its cover.

"I see you on Monday at three o'clock, Dubois" she said in her usual monotonous and dry tone. _Or maybe you partially can._

I was grateful Quil was nowhere near because he would probably start faking some sickness so she would check him.

I took out of my purse the keys of the house and was about to open the door when I tripped on the front door's carpet and went head first against it. Needless to say, a string of curses in French escaped my mouth; sometimes I dropped the ball with the whole language thing.

_Stupid carpet._

I also seemed to forget about the whole lady-like-behaviour-thing quite easily too.

I dragged my bags to the living room, turned on the TV and then proceeded to flop down on the couch, with the feeling that they were going to love their gifts. Although, one of them needed a small modification.

Just thinking about his smile when he sees the gift made me sigh and forget about my growing headache.

Automatically, the palm of my face slapped my forehead, bringing my headache back multiplied by a thousand. There were some silly ideas getting into my head.

* * *

><p>December was a peaceful month; I woke up every morning to the sound of the rhythmic tapping of the rain against the wooden ceiling, reminding me where I was.<p>

Sometimes, I went down to the beach to do some storm-watching, just like the tourist did, because somehow that was how I felt, a foreign in my own place of birth.

I sensed the sand under my boots and the cold breeze brought the smell of marine salt; I was lost in the movement of the waves again while the cold drizzle hit my face.

"Are you planning to get yourself a cold for Christmas?" His familiar voice broke through my tranquility, even my heart seemed to speed up even if I didn't turn to see him.

"It's great to see you too, Em. Lovely weather we have today, isn't it?" I answered, with my gaze fixed at the revolting and gray clouds that filled the horizon.

I heard him laugh a bit and that made a smile adorn my face.

"You are going to end like one of those crazy old ladies that look at the sea for the rest of their lives"

The comment made me laugh, after all, craziness ran through my blood, or at least that's what the people said.

"I don't see anything wrong with admiring the nature" I said, watching the fog that covered most of James's Island.

'Although I would prefer to admire other things, like your eyes' I had to contain myself so I wouldn't say it.

"What do you think about continuing your admiration in another place, let's say, somewhere under a roof, drinking a hot chocolate?" finally I turned to see him. He was a bit taller, maybe he grew up some more this last week. But he was still himself with his long brown hair and his worn out green sweater.

We walked among the giant trees that lied on the sand until we reached the store that Embry's mother worked in, she looked just the same as I remembered her, apparently Embry was being a good boy and wasn't causing her despair.

I went out of the store blowing my cup of hot chocolate, I had already burned my tongue with the first sip and I didn't want Em to keep teasing me about being impatient.

"Thanks for the drink" I exclaimed cheerfully, at the same time as we started to make our way to my house. "But… Weren't you going to buy one for you?"

"Me? No, I have to save some money" He stopped for a moment, hesitating if he should continue or no but, in the end, he kept going. "There is someone special in my life now and I want to tend to her wishes"

I felt my heart beating a bit faster again. _At this rate, probably it's arrhythmia_. But as a reflex, I took another sip of my drink. I whimpered, having burned my tongue again.

"Silly kid" said Embry with another light chuckle, he took the cup out of my hand and started stirring with the straw and blowing on it. "Here, it should be better now".

"Thanks"

"Incredibly, this is the longest I have seen you away from a book since school started"

"Hey" I said, pushing him but he barely move.

"But it's true, there's even a bet about when you will go bananas" he spoke between laughs.

"What? You three are awful!" I couldn't believe my best friends had a bet about something like this. Still, it made me curious. "So… How long do you think?"

Embry looked back at me "I think you already jumped that fence" I pushed him again and we laughed like the kids we were, we just kept shoving at each other the rest of the way. I was about to fall a couple of times but I didn't left him know about that.

Moments like this changed how I felt about being in La Push, and I wasn't about to ruined them.

"Just take it easy" said Embry, when we finally got to the entrance of my house. "I don't wanna see you become a crazy mess that talks with the magical beings of the forest".

"Don't worry, I'll be fine" I assured him and paused for a second. "Do you want to come in?"

He stared at me with his brown eyes, smiled with something I think was tenderness and, like always, patted the top of my head with the palm of his hand.

"No, it's okay; today I have… things to do".

And with that, he turned around and left, leaving me with a sigh on my lips and the wanting of seeing him again. Really, I couldn't understand what was going on with me, I was a giggle away from being Kim and that was driving me insane.

* * *

><p>I think we had already been sitting on the floor of my living room for two hours, playing videogames; it was four in the afternoon of the 24th of December, and the boys and I had decided to get together to trade gifts before our respective family's dinners.<p>

"Where do you think he is?" I asked, passing the control to Jake. I had lost against Quil in Super Smash Bros for the tenth time, not like I was really paying any attention.

"Who?" inquired Jake, without looking away from the screen.

"Em. Who else?" I answered slightly annoyed, it was obvious.

I saw how an impish grin formed on Quil's face "Don't worry about him, surely he is 'busy'"

The boys exchanged looks of complicity, making me feel out of the circle, _what had I lost?_

The doorbell rang and basically I ran to the door to see who it was, only to find Em standing there with his hair brushed back with some sort of gel and smelling of cologne. I couldn't help to laugh.

* * *

><p>"Well, I'm out of here. Give me my stuff" declared Quil, putting his cell phone in his pocket and standing up.<p>

We grabbed our gifts from under the tree, the first one was Jake. His were on boxes, wrapped beautifully in colorful papers; I was still amazed at how skillful he was with those big hands.

Embry laughed when he opened his box; it was a spare part for his motorcycle.

Quil seemed to light up with his; inside there were two used Nintendo 64 cartridges. _Great, another reason for having Quil over every day._

And mine? Mine made me drool; it had all of my favorite candies from when I was a kid. _Milk duds, man, milk duds! _I couldn't believe Jake still remember that.

"Grab there" said Quil, tossing three small brown paper bags, one to each of us. The boys caught theirs in the first try, I fought with mine, but in the end I bounced three times on my hands before it felt to the floor.

Inside each bag there was a bracelet made out of woven cedar bark with the same design and colors. It was a friendship bracelet.

"Can you get more corny than this?" started Embry.

"How sweet, and hand made by our own 'Lil Quillie'" followed Jake. But even with all of their jokes, they still putted them on.

Inside my bag, there were other things, three thin silver bracelets; one of them had a pendant of a small feather carved in the same material, and a thin headband adorned with delicate roses made out of tulle.

"I thought you may like them… They aren't a great thing but…" Quil looked a bit uncomfortable, so I hugged him, sure that if I didn't he would keep rambling on.

"I love them" I said in a low voice with my sincerest tone.

I managed to hear Jake whispering something to Embry and they laughed.

"Oh, shut up" sounded an annoyed Quil. I let go of him and after a couple seconds he continued, with the same amount of delicacy as before. "And this" he gave us three bigger paper bags, inside each there was a box. Mine was red and contained a fruit and nut's cake, it was the Christmas cake of Quil's mom and it was stupidly delicious.

"My turn" said Embry. He handed Quil a bag with a long sleeved dressing shirt inside, "Mom's idea, so no offense, dude"

He gave Jake a disc of his favorite band, AC/DC. Needless to say, he was glowing.

And mine was a beautiful dark red sweater; if there was any talent you wouldn't expect Embry Call to have that would be knitting, and yet he was great at it. That and his tendency to worry about everyone's wellbeing made him the 'mom' of the group.

It was my turn now and I felt a bit self-conscious. My gifts were, well, a bit different from theirs. I had bought for Jake a leather jacket. For Quil a book he had been talking about for the past five months but never found, I don't know how many bookstores I visited for it. And for Em, I bought a black hooded jacket.

They looked astonished. _Maybe I over did it a bit._

"For next year, we need to put a price limit" said Jake.

"Jade, we can't accept this, is too much" declared Em.

Quil had already started reading the book, not really caring about what was going on. If there was anything he loved other than a good RPG, it was a good book. Em shot him a mean glance and finally Quil looked up. "Talk for yourself, I ain't leaving this baby"

In the end, I finally convinced them to accept the gifts.

I walked the guys to the door but Embry seemed to fall behind.

"Aren't you leaving?" I asked.

"Ah, no. I though maybe you would like some company until your mother comes back" My heart raced. _I was going to be alone with Embry._

"If you want I can stay too" exclaimed Quil, peeking his head through the open door.

_Really, could the timing of this kid get any worse?_

Thank god his cell phone rang again. _Sometimes, I loved Quil's mom._

The two of us stood outside of the house looking at Jake and Quil leaving. Finally, Embry talked.

"You did a good job"

"Ah?"

"The patch" he said, pointing to a piece of strong fabric on the black jacket that he was wearing now. It was a Quileute wolf made out of stitches of red and orange thread.

"You said it was your favorite part of the design".

He smiled warmly at me. "Come on, let's get inside, I don't want you to catch a cold"

"Oh yeah, be careful, my mom is going to punish you" I turned around to said to him from the door.

That was the moment Embry lost his balance, leaning to the front. The only thing that kept him from falling on me were his two hands, grasping the frame of the door strongly. But still, his lips crashed against mine.

I felt a rush of electricity running through my face and butterflies dancing on my stomach. It was like having my first kiss all over again. Awkward and embarrassing but sweet.

Maybe my friends were right, maybe Embry could feel something for me.

But the sweet sensation lasted only a few seconds, Embry quickly backed up and stared at me. I probably looked as stunned as he did, my cheeks were burning.

"I'm sorry, I didn't…" he started, but seemed to be unable to continue. "It's not what you think, the carpet…" he gulped.

_Thanks, stupid carpet._

I opened my mouth, trying to find any word to tell him to not worry, to insinuate that he could do it again. _Damn, if I were as direct as Kim I would have already kissed him again._

But that didn't happen, I wasn't Kim, and on top of that he continued to talk.

"I'm seeing someone" He said finally, and I felt my stomach sinking and twisting. I wanted to throw up so badly. So that was it, the special person, the smiles, the things to do.

_Embry had a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend, if I was unlucky enough._

"And we… we are like brothers" he finished.

_Great, why __didn't he just slap me and got over with it?_

_Brothers_. Not even family. I was his _Little_ _brother_.

He looked at me, like he wanted me to say something but I just couldn't. Too many emotions, too little time.

So, again, I just stood there and watched him turn around and leave.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yeah! New chapter out :D Way to ruin a Christmas's eve day, huh?~ ****Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one :D**

**Thanks to _ang-vamp_ and _j1u29_ for their reviews! ****And thanks to the people who added this story among their favorites and their alerts!**

**Take care and have a great week!**


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